“We left Sudan because of the war,” said Fatma, a farmer and a mother among one million people who fled over the border into Chad after civil war broke out in 2023.
“Anyone who stands in the way is simply eliminated,” she explained. “Sudan is the place where we were born and raised. Now, they’ve forced us out.”
After three years of bitter conflict, the war in Sudan shows little sign of abating. As many as 400,000 people have been killed and 11 million have been displaced. The civilian population continues to bear the brunt of the conflict, with fighters on both sides targeting civilians.
The women and girls who have stayed have experienced “widespread and systemic” violence, including rape, abductions and killings, according to the UN.
But those who leave their lives behind find little sanctuary across the border. Many today live in crowded makeshift camps with little access to food, water or healthcare.
More than three in four displaced people in Chad report experiencing serious harm, including physical attacks, theft and sexual violence.
But for International Women’s Day on 8 March, a British aid organisation told The Independent how women like Fatma are now playing a central role in developing solutions to give real security to displaced people around the world.
In Chad, which closed its border with Sudan late in February, displaced women and girls are exposed to the risk of sexual violence when they leave their makeshift shelters in search of firewood, for something as basic as cooking.
Fatma said she struggled to go out in search of wood “because I’m unwell and my eyes hurt, so I can’t lift the bundles on my head”. As supplies dry up, she has to travel further and further for wood, exposing her to a further risk of violence.
“When people are displaced and flee to a country like Chad, where they’re looking for safety and security, they’re not always finding it,” explained Sarah Robinson, programme manager for Sudan at ShelterBox, a disaster relief charity which provides shelter and other aid items to families around the world.
“Particularly for women and girls, one of the tasks involves going to collect firewood, which is an essential part of managing a home and surviving. And when they’re having to leave the camp settings and go into the bush to search for firewood, they open themselves up to additional sexual assault and gender-based violence.”
To ease the burden, she said they consulted with a women’s cooperative in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, that designed and now makes more efficient stoves, which burn 70 per cent less wood and mean women spend less time out in the bush. Displaced women agreed they made a difference to their lives, she said.
“The fact that we’re working with a women’s cooperative in N’Djamena is also really exciting, to see how the women are taking initiative, they’re solving their own problems,” Ms Robinson added.
“They know it better than we know as international workers; they see what’s possible and what’s not possible. It’s great to be supporting them to be able to grow their business in a sustainable way.”
